River segmentation using satellite image contextual information and Bayesian classifier

Satellite-based remote sensing imaging can provide continuous snapshots of the Earth’s surface over long periods. River extraction from remote sensing images is useful for the comprehensive study of dynamic changes of rivers over large areas. This paper presents a new method of extracting rivers by using training samples based on the mathematical morphology, Bayesian classifier and a dynamic alteration filter. The use of a training map from erosion morphology helps to extract the non-predictive river’s curves in the image. The algorithm has two phases: creating the profile to separate river area via evaluated morphological erosion and dilation, namely, a training map; and improving the river’s image segmentation using the Bayesian rule algorithm in which two consecutive filters swipe false positive (non-water area) along the image. The proposed algorithm was tested on the Kuala Terengganu district, Malaysia, an area that includes a river, a bridge, dam and a fair amount of vegetation. The results were compared with two standard methods based on visual perception and on peak signal-to-noise ratio, respectively. The novelty of this approach is the definition of the contextual information filtering technique, which provides an accurate extraction of river segmentation from satellite images.     

On the explicit analytic solutions of an Oldroyd 6-constant fluid

This paper deals with some steady unidirectional flows of an Oldroyd 6-constant fluid. The modelled differential equation is non-linear and proposes some new mathematical difficulties. The governing non-linear equation for the steady flow of an Oldroyd 6-constant fluid is different than from the Newtonian fluid and involves the non-Newtonian features. Moreover, the exact analytic solutions are obtained for Couette, Poiseuille and generalized Couette flows for all values of non-Newtonian parameters. The homotopy analysis method (HAM) is used to construct the solutions.     

Kinetics of thermal inactivation of transglutaminase from a newly isolated Bacillus circulans BL32

BACKGROUND: This paper describes the modeling of the kinetics of thermal inactivation of transglutaminase (TGase) from a newly isolated Bacillus circulans BL32, isolated from the Amazon environment. The purified enzyme was incubated at temperatures ranging from 30 to 70 °C and values of the thermodynamic inactivation parameters, such as activation energy (ΔE), activation enthalpy (ΔH), activation entropy (ΔS), and free energy (ΔG) for thermal inactivation, were calculated. RESULTS: The kinetics of TGase thermo‐inactivation followed a Lumry–Eyring model. The enzyme was very stable up to 50 °C, with approximately 50% of activity remaining after heating for 12 h. It was completely inactivated by incubation at 70 °C for 2 min. ΔE for TGase was 350.5 kJ mol^?1. ΔH and ΔS for thermo‐inactivation of the TGase were 347.8 kJ mol^?1 and 744 J mol^?1 K^?1 at 50 °C, respectively. Dynamic light scattering measurements suggest that the thermal inactivation of this microbial TGase can be partially attributed to the formation of aggregates. CONCLUSION: These results provide useful information about the thermal characteristics of the microbial TGase from B. circulans BL32 and indicate that this enzyme could be a good candidate for industrial applications. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Production of organic solvent tolerant lipase by Staphylococcus caseolyticus EX17 using raw glycerol as substrate

BACKGROUND: In this work we used Plackett–Burman statistical design and central composite design in order to optimize culture conditions for lipase production by Staphylococcus caseolyticus strain EX17 growing on raw glycerol, which was obtained as a by‐product of the enzymatic synthesis of biodiesel. The stability of lipase was verified over several organic solvents, such as methanol, ethanol and n‐hexane. RESULTS: Optimal culture conditions for lipase production were found to be 36 °C, initial pH 8.12, glycerol 30 g L^?1, olive oil 3.0 g L^?1, and soybean oil 2.5 g L^?1, with 145.8 U L^?1 of enzyme activity. When commercial glycerol was substituted by the raw glycerol from biodiesel synthesis, lipolytic activity was 127.3 U L^?1. Experimental validation of enzyme production matched values predicted by the mathematical model, which was 138.3 U L^?1. Stability tests showed that lipase from S. caseolyticus EX17 was stable in methanol, ethanol, and n‐hexane. CONCLUSIONS: Results obtained in this work suggest that raw glycerol can be used for lipase production by S. caseolyticus EX17 and that this enzyme has a potential application in the synthesis of biodiesel. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Tailoring the properties of leno woven fabrics by varying the structure

Abstract

This study focused on the development of woven structures based on leno weave with tailored performance properties. To achieve this objective, pure leno and hybrid leno weaves were used to produce woven fabrics. In hybrid weaves, leno weave was combined with 1/1 plain, 3/1 twill, and 2/2 matt weaves, and 12 samples were produced with three different weft thread densities. The multifilament polyester yarn was used as warp and weft material. The characterization of physical and mechanical properties showed that comparable tensile properties were achieved by leno and hybrid weave fabrics, but the hybrid structures offered lower resistance to puncture as compared to pure leno fabrics. A multi-response optimization technique was used to determine the best sample under a particular set of conditions.     

A PC based system for managing technical information and data

A lot of technical information/data is generated daily at a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). More often than not this information is scattered over different forms, data sheets and reports. As such, accessibility as well as useability is limited. In order to make this information useable and beneficial to plant safety and availability, PC based software was developed in-house. This paper describes the software and its benefits that have been seen.     

Line source and point source diffraction by a reactive step

The diffraction of a line and a point source by a reactive step joined by two half planes where each half plane and step are characterized by different surface reactances have been studied. The problem is solved by using the Wiener–Hopf technique and the Fourier transform. The scattered field in the far zone is determined by the method of steepest descent. Graphical results for the line source are also presented. It is observed that if the source is shifted to a large distance the results of the line source differ from those of Buyukaksoy and Birbir [Int. J. Eng. Sci. 1997, 35, 311–319] by a multiplicative factor to the part of the scattered field containing the effects of incident and reflected waves. Subsequently, the point source diffraction is examined using the results obtained for a line source diffraction.